Following a night spent in the ‘Zamek Gniew’ (Castle), which was made even more impressive by the appearance of the finalists of the regional ‘Miss Poland’ contest, we set off promptly at a-bit-after-eight a.m leaving the beauties asleep in the hotel. As the ferry across the Wisla wasn’t running due to an excessive amount of river, we took a detour, passing over a bridge by the stunning Malbork Castle (there are lots of castles in Poland…).

A quick stop for food in the traditional Polish Tesco and we were back on our way to Elblag, our hospice stop for the day, 80km along the route. We were greeted by a (small) cheering crowd and plentiful food, including both savoury and sweet pancakes and a barbecue. This was, as always, declared “the best food we’ve ever had.” It was.

After we had filled ourselves almost to bursting point with food, we had the ritual photo session, followed by a presentation of medals thanking us for our efforts. We toured the hospice and visited the new rehabilitation room provided by the Foundation, then retired to the hospice garden for a game of Frisbee.

Once we were all fed, watered and rested, we set off on our final 40km stretch to the famed ‘Big Dog.’ However, as Elblag is one of the lowest points in Poland, this involved several hill climbs and one puncture/explosion. Eventually we arrived, having nearly run over several chickens on the way. (No animals were harmed in the process.) We were greeted by the undeniably massive St. Bernard and an equally ‘friendly’ Golden Retriever; these proved popular with the children staying at the hotel. Finally, off for a ‘recovery beer’, which caused Alex to turn into Gollum, an ice-cold shower before dinner, and several discussions about the cycling ability of the celebrity who will be joining us tomorrow… will Stu and Arek find some competition at last? Tune in tomorrow to find out.